Sales of Research In Motion’s new BlackBerry 7 smartphones have been mixed out of the gate according to one analyst, with AT&T showing weak sell-through while Sprint stores have shown healthy sales to end users. In a note to investors on Wednesday, RBC Capital Markets Managing Director Mike Abramsky wrote that the majority of subscribers who purchased BlackBerry 7 smartphones during their first two days of availability were upgrading from older BlackBerry models rather than switching from other platforms. Checks performed by RBC at 40 retail stores found that the sales of the AT&T’s BlackBerry Torch 9810 were light while the Bold 9930 sold well at Sprint, with the phone having been sold out at 20% of the stores contacted. Initial inventory at each of the 40 stores is unknown. Abramsky also commented on U.S. carrier support, noting that AT&T and Sprint appear more supportive with aggressive pricing of RIM’s new devices, while Verizon and T-Mobile’s less competitive pricing might have a negative impact on sales. Read on for more. More →

Some analysts believe Apple may have sold close to 1 million iPad 2 units during the tablet’s debut weekend. Leading up to launch day, opening weekend sales estimates ranged from 300,000 to 600,000 units. Following nationwide sell outs, however, some analysts have upped their estimates significantly. “We would not be surprised to see Apple sell closer to 1 million iPad2s in the opening weekend,” Wedbush Securities analyst Scott Sutherland told Reuters. Apple Store locations and third-party retail partners across the country ran out of iPad 2 inventory quickly following the tablet’s 5:00 p.m. launch on Friday. Some Best Buy locations claim to have sold out of iPad 2 units and accessories within 10 minutes of making the tablet available to customers. Regarding buyer breakdown, Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry believes 60% of iPad 2 buyers were upgrading from last year’s model and the remaining 40% were first-time iPad buyers — and he believes 100% of iPad 2 buyers own at least one other Apple product. Chowdhry also thinks people preferred AT&T’s 3G model over Verizon Wireless’ iPad 2 because AT&T has better customer service. More →

Several industry analysts estimate that Apple’s iPad 2, which became available online early this morning and will go on sale in stores this evening, should handily beat the opening weekend sales achieved last year by the original iPad. Analysts at Creative Strategies, Rodman & Renshaw and Piper Jaffray all concur, and it only seems logical, of course. Inventory shortages played a big role in hampering launch weekend sales of the original iPad model, which sold 300,000 units in its first 24 hours of availability. Despite being an incremental update that disappoints in some areas, the iPad 2 will be much more widely available at launch, with retail partners including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Best Buy, Walmart, Sam’s Club and Target carrying the tablet on top of availability at Apple Stores across the country. The iPad 2 goes on sale at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. More →

One of our Apple sources has shared some very sensitive information on first-week Verizon iPhone launch sales with us. It’s quite interesting — we’re being told sales are performing a little under what Apple and Verizon anticipated, and we have the data to show it. Below are unit sales totals from five Apple stores combined (including two very, very prominent Apple stores) showing both Verizon and AT&T iPhone 4 sales during the Verizon iPhone’s first five days of availability:

Thursday: Verizon = 909, AT&T = 539

Friday: Verizon = 916, AT&T = 680

Saturday: Verizon = 660, AT&T = 471

Sunday: Verizon = 796, AT&T = 701

Monday: Verizon = 711, AT&T = 618

Additionally, we have been told that online pre-orders between Verizon and Apple amounted to around 550,000 units. We also have some statistics on who’s buying Verizon iPhones to share with you: 30% of people buying Verizon iPhones were Android users, just over 25% of people buying iPhone 4 were BlackBerry users, and only 14% of people buying the Verizon iPhone were AT&T iPhone owners. The remaining percent didn’t want to say, didn’t have a smartphone, or didn’t have a phone prior to making their iPhone 4 purchases last week.

LG’s global head of marketing strategy and planning James Choi may soon find himself in hot water following a few loose comments made to British blog Pocket-lint. Of Windows Phone 7 devices sales, Choi said sales have not met the phone maker’s expectations thus far. “From an industry perspective we had a high expectation, but from a consumer point of view the visibility is less than we expected.” Choi went on to say that savvy users might find Windows Phone 7 “boring” after using it for a short period of time, but that there are other consumers the platform appeals to. “For tech guys like us it might be a little bit boring after a week or two, but there are certain segments that it really appeals to,” said Choi. “We strongly feel that it has a strong potential even though the first push wasn’t what everyone expected.” LG release a pair of Windows Phone 7 devices last year — the Optimus 7 and AT&T’s LG Quantum. Neither device received ovely positive reviews. More →

Microsoft announced Tuesday that sales of Windows Phone 7 devices have surpassed 1.5 million units. The milestone took just over eight weeks from the international launch of Microsoft’s new OS to achieve. Windows Phone 7 launched in the U.S. just six weeks ago. “We believe that to succeed in mobile you need, first of all, a great product, and we think we have that,” Microsoft exec Achim Berg said in an interview. “What we’re hearing from our customers is that they’re thinking the same way. Additionally, early customer survey data on the overall software experience is very positive and the willingness to recommend our phone is very high. That’s really good for us.” This milestone is Microsoft’s first official mention of sales figures with regard to Windows Phone 7, and it should go a long way to silence misguided claims that the company’s new mobile OS is “a flop.” Hit the break for Microsoft’s full press release, which includes a quick question/answer series with Berg. More →